JOHN KEEL NOT AN AUTHORITY ON ANYTHING

Bormujos John’s correspondence with Coral Lorenzen continues, with a letter from August 3, 1966. Ms. Lorenzen passes on a letter from Livio Caputo, a writer for the Italian magazine Epoca; needs the photos she lent John, since APRO members James Harder and Allen Utke use them in their lectures; and discusses John Fuller’s Life article about the Betty and Barney Hill case. She also attacks Frank Edwards as a “four-flusher” (there’s a word you don’t hear often) and praises J. Allen Hynek. I checked: Hynek appeared on the Merv Griffin Show on July 13, 1966.

Coral Lorenzen writes John with sad news: her mother has just died. Nevertheless, she and Jim are “back in harness and working,” preparing for the publicity they expect to get from John’s article in Playboy. John replies with a newsy letter, filling her in on his frustrations with Playboy, the continuing flap in Long Island, and the latest gossip about John Fuller, Frank Edwards, Mort Young, and Jacques Vallee.

June Larson sends John some clippings, and establishes his interests and his bill. She also mentions her discussions with Ivan Sanderson about UFOs over water supplies, and her plan to map the reports. The sideways note on the first letter reads “but Ivan gave me the confidence pursue it a bit.” The one on the second letter reads “Either I am a worse typist than I thought, or my typewriter is illiterate! Please forgive hasty note!”

And do have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Comfortable Solstice, or whatever holiday you prefer. If nothing else, you can celebrate the fact that Dec. 25 is also the birthday of Isaac Newton and Robert Ripley!

Researcher June Larson and John have another exchange about her UFO clipping service, and he sends her a check. Ms. Larson also mentions current reports from Australia, and John requests information on the Gemini flight, water and reservoir sightings, and car-chasing incidents. He is, as he says, “interested in everything.”

John’s correspondence with the Lorenzens has become quite friendly at this point. Jim’s full name, by the way, was Leslie James Lorenzen, and he sometimes used the initials. This is a lively letter: John gives a short assessment of his life, catches them up on his troubles with Playboy, reports on a visit to Long Island and a “water incident” there, reviews Frank Edwards’ book Flying Saucers–Serious Business and Frank Stranges’ film Phenomena 7.7, and passes on news about his fellow ufologists J. Allen Hynek, Albert Chop, John Fuller, and Mort Young. As usual, there’s a lot going on.

June Larson ran a sort of informal UFO clipping service, collecting and copying newspaper reports for other researchers. Judging from this letter, she mostly worked with NICAP and with Ivan Sanderson. Here, she tries to clarify how much material John wants, and how much she should charge him. She also defends NICAP and Major Keyhoe, as the most objective group “in this confused and somewhat ‘off-beat’ subject,” and regrets the energy spent on squabbles and backbiting.

I continue working my way through John’s file of “Official Correspondence ’66.” Here, he writes a letter to Joseph Wershba, taking him to task for a program he’d written and produced for CBS, UFO: Friend, Foe, or Fantasy? John also invites him out to lunch, so they can discuss UFOs further. Wershba politely declines to comment. The program in question, by the way, has been posted on YouTube.

John writes a “humdinger” of a letter to the Lorenzens, obviously exhilarated by having turned in his Playboy article (entitled, like his later book, Operation Trojan Horse), and the prospect of a large advance for the book. He discusses Ralph Rankow, NICAP’s photo analyst; Coral Lorenzen’s theory that aliens want to put drugs in our water supply; silicon-based aliens; UFOs and Indians; and Jim Moseley. He did start work on his UFO film; I posted part of the script here.

John responds to June Larson, who was supplying him with UFO clippings. Back then, this was all done with paper and postage, which cost money, so he’s trying to narrow down the subject matter and reduce costs. $30 or $40 a week was expensive, particularly since he was earning less with UFO research than he had with comedy writing. Of particular note here, I think, is his list of subjects of interest.

Coral Lorenzen responds to John’s distress about alien interference by reminding him not to “let your fear get you by the throat,” and to be wary of unreliable and unbalanced witnesses. She fills him in on her recent run of bad luck, adding that if she were afraid someone or something was influencing her, she’d “have gone to the looney bin this year.” She also reports on some recent UFO activity in her area. One footnote: the movie “Phenomena 7.7” was a documentary by Frank Stranges, now apparently lost; the number referred to the percentage of sightings the Air Force considered unexplained.